Drive & Kick
by MrsTanaka
Summary: Rini has always loved Basketball, but has never been good enough to play. So, when she transferred to Kaijo she immediately went to try and become the girls manager only to find out that the school doesn't have a girls basketball team! What's a girl in love with Basketball to do then? Well, show off her knowledge to the boys' basketball team's coach and hope he'll accept her!
1. I love Basketball!

**Chapter I:** I love Basketball!

 **Note:** So yeah, here I am again with another fanfiction. I know I said I wasn't going to start another one yet, but then I realized I only have like one and half more chapters to complete on my "Over The Net" fanfiction and decided I may as well start this thing up. Not only that, but I've had so much inspiration to write for this cute little baby that I couldn't resist. So, here I am with my first KnB fanfiction featuring the cute bby Kasamatsu and my weirdo oc. Enjoy~!

Rini has always been in love, but unfortunately her love was never meant to be.

Since the day her father brought it into her house for her younger brother she's been in love with it even more so than him.

She studied it day in and day out. She tried her best at it having always been a girl that put her best foot forward.

Her love was for Basketball, but really it would never have worked out between the two of them at least when it came down to her actually playing.

Sure, she had the basics down and her coaches did tell her she was a little above average in terms of playing; however, she learned the hard way in middle school that Basketball was not only a height game, but it was full of monsters. It wasn't just the men's team, but the women's team too. They were all full of extraordinary players and her "little above average plays" just weren't going to cut it. So, she stuck to managing the girls team instead and constantly studied whatever she could. She did whatever she could to stick close to the sport because that was what she loved and it wasn't like you just simply give up on something or someone you loved. She dedicated her life to the sport even though she wasn't able to go out onto the court and play in any official games.

So, why? Why was this happening to her?!

Kaijo high school. It was a good school to get into and she attended it because of her mother; however, the school didn't have a women's basketball team. _'How the hell do we have a Kise Ryouta Fan-club, but no female basketball team?! Are you kidding me?!'_ Rini thought to herself for probably the sixth time today as she walked around the school aimlessly. Classes had already ended and her mother was going to be staying on campus late tonight which is why she found herself still here…that and her mother was complaining about her lack of club activities. "Well, I'm sorry mom! The school doesn't have a freaking girls' basketball team!" the girl muttered angrily under her breath as she recalled her previous conversation with her mother. The woman had told her to just spend some time after school checking out the different clubs, but really the only club she wanted in on was the Basketball club. "I should have just stayed out in America with dad," Rini continued speaking as she ran a hand through her shoulder length black hair. The sudden vibration of her phone in her pocket thankfully pulled her thoughts away if only for a moment. She quickly pulled her phone from her pocket and looked over the caller before answering it.

"Rini-chan! You promised to meet me at the gym today!" a woman spoke up on the other end.

"Oh, right sorry Yukari, I'm on my way now. I'm not that far," Rini replied before quickly adjusting her course to the gym. If she recalled it was only a few buildings over from her current location.

"Well hurry up! The coach only allows the gym doors to be open for so long before he closes them so the players can concentrate!" Yukari replied in a rather serious tone before she quickly hung up on her friend. Rini sighed lightly before hanging up her phone as well and shoving it back into her pocket. She increased her pace to something of a light jog since the last thing she wanted was to see her friend upset with her. It wasn't long before she eventually caught sight of the fangirls crowding around the open door of the gym calling out Kise's name like their life depended on it. Rini grumbled a bit under her breath while attempting to gently push through them in search of her friend. Once she made it to the front she found Yukari cheering loudly for the team…or rather Kise. _'Why am I friends with her again?'_ Rini thought to herself while looking over the blonde girl. It seemed like the woman hadn't taken notice to the fact that her friend was here, but that was fine with Rini since that meant she could watch the boys practice without an interruption. A fangirl to her opposite side stepped on her toe and shouted the blond boy's name rather loudly…well, maybe not without distraction, but at least Yukari wouldn't be asking her about every little thing. Rini took a small breath before turning her orange hues onto the practice before her.

Socks.

Black, tight fitting, athletic socks. Oh god, there went her teenage hormones. She was like a boy who just saw a woman in thigh high's.

 _'What the hell am I doing?! Focus on the practice not the man!'_ she thought to herself before bringing her hands up to lightly smack at her cheeks. She quickly focused on the practice once more moving on from the dark haired male and looking instead at those behind him. _'So this is the practice they let us watch…'_ she thought to herself before noticing the coach move towards them. She heard a few girls give a quiet 'aw' it was obvious what was going to come next. _'Crap…crap! I don't wanna leave yet!'_ Rini thought the slight panic washing over her once the coach had finally made his way over and was going to close the door on them. She felt her heart pounding in her chest and with every beat she mentally screamed the word no.

"C-Coach! I'm a huge fan of Basketball can I continue watching your practice?!" Rini nearly screamed out before throwing her foot in the way of the door. All eyes turned on her including the boys who had just stopped running their drills for a second to grab something to drink. They all knew the real practice was going to start once the coach closed those doors.

"Like I haven't heard that one before. Now, will you move your foot," the coach spoke up obviously aggravated with her. Rini looked toward Yukari for help, but the girl seemed to be too busy laughing at the sudden outburst of her friend. It really was just like Rini to try and watch anything that had to do with Basketball.

"I'm serious though! I love basketball!" Rini proclaimed rather loudly…this time more than a few girls among her began joining Yukari in her laughing fit.

"Fine. If you such a huge fan then here's an easy enough question for you; what drills were the boys running just now?" the coach asked while pulling his hands away from the door for a second.

"If I answer correctly, can I join you on the bench and watch?" Rini asked this time her voice finally quieted down and the girls around her also seemed to stop laughing. They all wanted to know if she actually was a fan of Basketball or just another fan of Kise Ryouta like themselves.

"Sure, I'll let you join me for today," the coach replied while crossing his arms over his chest. Rini could feel his impatience growing with each second that ticked by.

"Defensive sliding drills and your player with the buzz cut over there could have been keeping his butt a little closer to the ground if you ask me," Rini spoke up before finally removing her foot from the door and giving something of a little smirk to the older man. Of course, he didn't look neither impressed or happy about her having answered the question correctly, sure, he had a look of surprise cross over his face for a second, but outside of that second all he showed was anger. "You're not going to go back on your word are you?" Rini asked the smirk on her lips increasing somewhat. It took a moment, but eventually the coach moved aside for her and she happily skipped in ignoring the groans of the jealous fangirls or the whispered remarks of how they wished it was them. Rini waved quickly to Yukari before the coach was finally able to close the doors. He made a gesture for her to follow him to which she happily did ignoring the looks most of the players gave her. This was the first time since they acquired Kise Ryouta that the coach allowed a girl to come in and watch the players practice. She took a seat beside the coach and watched as the players quickly began their next set of drills.

"Do the players have a set regime or something? They immediately jumped into Drive and Kick drills…" Rini questioned as she pulled out a notebook from her school bag and began taking notes down on it. She noticed that the coach seemed to ignore her and she could only frown lightly before looking up from her notebook for a second and then quickly looking back down to scribble something down. "The player that I mentioned earlier…he isn't lining up his hips with the defenders hips. Is he a first year?" Rini continued asking questions trying to get the man to open up a bit to her, but of course this was getting nowhere fast. "Shouldn't you go tell him his mistakes?" she asked and watched as the coach tapped his foot in an annoyed manner.

"Why don't you then? You seem to know what you're talking about," he finally answered her back and all Rini could do was stare at him wide eyed. _'Oh my gosh…he's so childish…'_ she thought to herself while trying to hold back her giggles. It was obvious he still wasn't happy with having been forced to let her into their practice.

"Alright, I will then," she spoke up happily before setting her notebook down beside her and getting up from her seat to approach the male. He seemed to be talking with another player while waiting his turn to go up and try again. The gym may have been big, but it wasn't as if they could all practice this particular drill at the same exact time especially since they seemed to have quite a few students. As she got closer she realized who exactly it was he was talking to. _'Oh god…those socks. Why…Why am I attracted to these things?! I'm just a freak…yep, that's all there is to it,'_ she thought to herself before gently tapping the shoulder of the player whom she needed to speak with. "Um…excuse me. Can I talk to you for a second?" she spoke up and almost, _almost_ laughed when she saw Mr. Athletic Socks visibly stiffen at her sudden appearance and turn a light red color.

"You need to talk to me?" the buzz cut kid asked her while raising a brow at her appearance probably wondering why exactly she wanted to talk speak with him; after all, she came in from the crowd of Kise fangirls so shouldn't she be more interested in him?

"Ah yeah, so earlier when you were preforming the defensive sliding drill you weren't lowering your hips enough and then just now for these Drive and Kick drills you weren't lining up your hips with the defenders. Maybe ask him for some advice from what I saw he seemed great at his Drives," Rini spoke up while raising a hand to point over toward the dark haired captain. He stiffened even more (if at all possible) at her sudden compliment and gesture to himself. "Unless…do you have hip problems? In which case that would explain quite a bit, but you're rather young to be-," she was obviously running off on a tangent, but thankfully the boy stopped her mid-way.

"Um…excuse me, but did the coach send you over here?" he asked and watched as she quickly shook her head at his question.

"Oh no! This is just something I realized on my own and thought I should let you know!" she spoke up happily before giving him a thumbs up.

"You did?" the man asked while raising a curious brow.

"Yeah, me, didn't you hear earlier? I love Basketball!" she replied her voice once more filled with happiness thanks to talking about the sport that she loved.


	2. Those Socks, Man!

**Chapter II:** Those socks, man!

"Thanks for letting me in on your practice today coach!" Rini spoke up happily while waving toward the older male as she ran across the court to leave the gym. "Oh yeah, it was nice meeting you two as well, Kasamatsu-senpai, Nao-kun!" she continued as she turned around for a moment to enthusiastically wave to the two males as well. Nao raised a hand and returned her enthusiastic wave tenfold while Kasamatsu seemed to raise a stiff arm toward her without actually waving it. She giggled lightly at their antics before turning around to face forward and push the gym doors open. She had to quickly go meet up with her mother at the front gate.

"Ah mom! The men's basketball team was great! You should have seen them!" Rini spoke up as she entered the car with her mother. The older woman had met her at the front gate after having picked up her car from the faculty parking.

"So, are you going to be joining them as the manager then?" her mother asked as she turned the key to her car.

"I want to, but…I don't think the coach likes me too much," Rini said before raising a hand to gently rub at the back her neck in a bit of embarrassment.

"Ah, I see. I'm guessing it's because of that model, right? I hear the female students have been giving him quite a hard time," Rini's mother said before laughing slightly at the image painted in her head. She remembered stopping by the gym once while Basketball practice was going on and those girls had seemed like they were more than just a little problem you could push under a rug. "I'll come with you tomorrow to speak with him then," she continued and watched as her daughter sent her a bright smile.

"Thanks so much mom! …There's also this…boy on the team and-," Rini began speaking, but was quickly interrupted by her mother whom was now sporting something of crazed smirk.

"Oh? Don't tell me you've fallen for Kise Ryouta too? After all those complaints about the crazy fangirls and you end up becoming one?" her mother said keeping the smirk on her lips and her eyes on the road.

"What? No, not Kise-kun. The captain, Kasamatsu-senpai, he's cute and he has these legs like…I'm getting off topic here. Anyways, I don't think he likes me too much either…I think," Rini said sighing softly as she leaned forward to adjust the air conditioner to fully blow on her face.

"Aw, Rini you're so cute! Maybe I can help with that too? When I stop by tomorrow try talking with him so I can see how he reacts to you. Maybe you just make him nervous? Then again if he's a senpai to you then he's at least eighteen and for a boy that age to be nervous around girls I wonder what kind of-," Rini's mother said clearly going off on a tangent herself. It was clear why Rini tended to ramble.

"Mom…mom! You're going off topic!" Rini said while laughing a bit at how alike she and her mother could be. It wasn't long before the two of them arrived home and Rini couldn't help wondering what tomorrow would be like.

-Time Skip (Next Day)-

Rini raised a hand to try and stifle a yawn as she walked into her last class for the day. She couldn't believe how late she had stayed up last night between studying for tests and reviewing notes from the Basketball practice she had watched. _'Ah…maybe I should listen to Yukari and admit that I have a problem,'_ Rini thought to herself as she gave a quick glance over her classmates to see who all was here already. She never paid much attention to her classmates in this class since she didn't know anyone which really wasn't that much of a surprise since she'd only been in this school for about a month now anyways. This class was also mostly filled to the brim with third years while she herself was still a second year. Her gaze stopped on a certain blue eyed boys though and quickly noticed that he was also staring at her with the same wide eyed, surprise look. "Kasamatsu-senpai? Good morning! I didn't know I had college prep with you," Rini spoke up happily as she approached the male watching him as he quickly stiffened and turned a bit red in the face. He nodded his head slightly toward her in something of a greeting as she took the seat beside him smiling slightly toward him the entire time. "You look different in uniform. Definitely doesn't suit you…yeah, you look better in basketball shorts and athletic socks," Rini spoke up trying desperately to make conversation, but from what she could tell the poor boy beside her just blew a fuse at her compliment. "It's a compliment. No need to freak out or anything," she spoke softly as she reached into her bag to retrieve her supplies for the class; of course, her words didn't seem to have any effect on the boy beside her and he continued to sit there stiff and red. "Do you want me to move, Kasamatsu-senpai?" she asked seriously wondering if it would help at all for her to leave. She was seriously beginning to think that maybe her mom was right last night and he was just terrible with girls. He shook his head in response to her question and she smiled brightly toward him before retrieving one more notebook from her bag, but this one she placed onto his desk instead of her own. He gave her a somewhat questioning look until she motioned for him to open it.

"Last few pages, I took notes on some of the players after seeing them practice last night. I wrote down what they seemed to be struggling in as well as work out routines and drills that might help them out. I didn't write anything on you first stringers though. I mainly just paid attention to the second and third strings since their flaws were far more noticeable then say like you or Kise-kun's," she spoke up watching as the man flipped through the pages with the same serious expression on his face. ' _Damn…I was hoping to get him to as least smile a bit_ ,' she thought to herself before resting her chin in her hand.

"I-It's um…It's…helpful. T-Thanks," he spoke up and had Rini actually been drinking something at the time she was sure she would have spit it out all over the student in front of her. That was the first time she heard him speak or at least speak to her.

"No problem! I'm going to have the coach look over it today too!" she stated happily as she took the notebook back from him. He simply nodded his head in response to her and she swore she could feel the sweat drop forming on the back of her head. It looked like it was going to take quite a bit just to get this boy to talk to her; after all, she had stayed up hours last night organizing those few pages and all she got was three words from him. "Say Kasamatsu-senpai, can I start sitting next to you every day for this period?" she asked and watched as the red on his cheeks quickly increased as he gave a firm nod of his head. It wasn't long after that did the teacher finally walk in and ask for the student's attention. She silently thanked the teacher for saving her from an awkward situation. The class was soon settling down in their seats and preparing for the lesson.

"Are you heading for the gym?" Rini asked as she quickly packed up her things glancing toward kasamatsu just in time to see him nod his head in affirmation. "Can I walk with you?" she asked orange eyes settling on him as she rested her messenger bag on one shoulder. He gave another firm nod in her direction and Rini quickly bit back her giggles at his expression. God, he'd been stiff the entire time they were in class and the red on his cheeks would always return with a vengeance if she said one word; that included when she had to answer a teacher's question.

"Kasamatsu-senpai!" a voice called out over the crowd to which both the captain and Rini turned around only to find a blond haired kouhai making his way over toward them. "Oh! You're the girl from yesterday, right? What are you doing with Kasamatsu-senpai?" he asked while smiling brightly toward the two of them ignoring the way the older male seemed to glare at him with more than just a bit of malice.

"Yeah, you can call me Rini though and I was just walking to the gym with him. We actually have our last class together," she spoke while trying to equally return the male's bright smile, but of course she ended up failing miserably at that. This man was just too happy even for her.

"I'm surprised senpai's even talking to you! He usually gets all stiff and red whenever a girl approaches him," Kise said only to have the captain raise his leg and kick him hard in the back. Rini watched as the blond stumbled forward and almost kissed the ground. She couldn't help the laugh that escaped her lips at the scene.

"You kind of deserved that one Kise-kun," Rini said while trying to stifle her laughter.

"Rini-chan! You're so mean. That really hurt, you know?" Kise spoke up as the two of them quickly moved together to catch up to Kasamatsu whom had started to walk on without them.

"Eh? Well, look at the bright side as least Kasamatsu-senpai has nice legs," Rini said, but almost as soon as she said it she watched the dark haired captain in front of her freeze up. She could only imagine the kind of face he was making. Kise gave something of a wicked grin as he looked over toward Rini wondering if she had said that on purpose.

"Is Rini-chan checking out the captain?" Kise asked only to be meant with yet another violent kick from his upperclassmen. Rini almost doubled over in laughter at the sight of it. These two were like a comedy duo together.

"Kise-kun…it cannot be good for your health to keep poking at the captain like that," Rini said as she kneeled down beside the blond ace before grabbing his forearm to help him up to his feet. "And to answer your question, I checked out everyone on the team! I was wondering where the players were strong and weak and Kasamatsu-senpai has nice legs…the same way you have nice biceps," Rini said while releasing her hold on her underclassmen now that he was back up on his feet. Of course, she left out the little bit where she may have been watching the captain a little bit more intently than the rest, but that was more the socks fault than anything else or at least that's what she told herself. The three of them soon came to a stop outside the gym and she smiled brightly as she waved them off since she needed to wait out here for her mother. She doubted the coach was going to let her back into the gym before her mother spoke with him. She sighed softly before pulling her phone from her pocket about to text her mother about what she was up to, but the sound of her voice pulled her attention away.

"Oh mom! You're actually on time for once," Rini spoke up and watched as her mother sent her something of a glare.

"Oh my daughter's hilarious. Anyways, come on we need to hurry up. I have a meeting in about twenty minutes so we'll have to make this quick. I won't have much time to help your with your boy problems today either, but I promise I'll make it up to you," the older woman spoke up before kindly asking the few fangirls that had already gathered to step aside. The girls went wide eyed at the sight of the woman before quickly bowing to her and then stepping aside. Rini followed close behind her mother whom only stopped when she was able to reach out and gently tap the Coaches' shoulder. "Ah, Takeuchi-san, do you have a moment to talk?" she asked and watched as the man turned around to face her only to go wide eyed at the sight of the school's principal standing in front of him.

"T-Tokiwa-san, what are you doing here?" he asked eyes looking over Rini for a moment before quickly giving the older woman a slight bow to which she returned as well.

"My daughter here was telling me about how she wanted to be the team's manager and about how you kindly let her sit and watch practice with you yesterday. She's always been obsessed with Basketball and I just had to come and thank you personally for taking care of her last night while I was working," she said while gently pulling Rini in front of her and placing her hands onto her daughter's shoulder. The both of them made sure to keep a sweet smile on their lips.

"M-Manager? She didn't say anything about that; however, as much as I'd love to give her the position she'd have to talk with the team's captain as well," Genta said blushing lightly as the older woman continued to do nothing more than smile sweetly at him.

"Oh? The captain? That's the boy you were telling me about last night, right?" Rini's mom asked while looking down toward her daughter whom only nodded her head slightly. "Well, this works perfectly then! Why don't we all have dinner tomorrow night? We can discuss everything then, but in the meantime, I have a meeting to get to. Would you mind keeping Rini-chan here with you Takeuchi-san?" she asked smile widening a fraction when the man agreed to just about everything she said. "Great! Thank you so much and I guess I'll be seeing you for dinner tomorrow too," the older woman stated happily before kissing the top of Rini's head and then rushing out of the gym leaving Genta and Rini waving behind her.

"You two planned this didn't you," Genta asked while looking down toward the little black haired girl beside him.

"Oh course," she replied sweetly before hurrying over to her spot on the bench.


	3. See You Tomorrow, Captain

**Chapter III:** See You Tomorrow, Captain

"He works a lot on footwork drills doesn't he?" Rini asked while looking over toward Coach Genta whom sat on her right. He sighed in a bit of annoyance, but still nodded his head at her question. It was a far cry better than yesterday when he wouldn't answer any of her questions.

"Yeah, he's our fastest player if you don't count Kise. You've been watching the captain quite a bit," he said and watched as the girl beside him stiffened lightly before raising a hand to scratch lightly at the side of her cheek.

"Yeah, well, he is the captain and it's not as if I'm only watching him. I already have more than a few pages of notes on each player," Rini quickly stated trying to hide her attraction for the captain. It wasn't as if she full on liked the guy since she barely knew him, but she wasn't going to lie and say she didn't find him attractive at all. She knew better than anyone that her eyes kept wandering over toward the captain whenever she was supposed to be watching other players and the fact that he was out of that stuffy uniform now made it even harder to ignore him. It was already bad enough that she kept focusing on him over a majority of the other players especially since today was mostly free practice. It was the perfect day to see what the students believed they needed to practice the most in was and if they had recognized their mistakes or not and yet…here she was staring at those athletic socks. Maybe it wasn't too bad though since not everyone seemed to show up today given that it was free practice meaning they could choose to not practice too.

"You're a strange one. Most girls give all their attention to Kise," the coach spoke up thinking about adding on the comment about how they were a bunch of idiots, but he reframed from saying such a remark. It was far from professional to call any student an idiot…no matter how much he actually believed they were.

"Eh? Well, those girls are a bunch of idiots," Rini muttered under her breath as her eyes turned slightly to look over toward the perfect model for a second. She missed the way the coach's eyes seemed to widen a fraction at her words since she had just said exactly what he had been thinking. He hadn't actually thought he'd find a girl in this school that wasn't interested in the damn model; hell, even the third years had flocked to him the moment he joined the school. And yet here she was, barely focusing on the model and instead watching the game as thoroughly as himself…if only paying a little extra attention to the captain, but he supposed she couldn't be completely devoid of teenage hormones. "Ah! Nao-kun is practicing his drives! I'm going to go and help him out with it if you don't mind coach!" Rini said happily as she set her notebook down beside and quickly got up to her feet.

"Oh? Is that why you got changed into your gym clothes?" he asked watching as she nodded her head toward him before running off onto the court with the players. He grinned slightly at her antics. She said she wanted to be the manager, but she was acting more like an assistant coach. _'Assistant coach, huh?'_ he thought to himself while rubbing lightly at his chin.

"Nao-kun! You're practicing your drives, right? Can I help you?" she asked looking over toward the male and trying not to laugh at his nearly bald head. He smiled somewhat at her before passing her the ball and watching as her eyes seemed to light up.

"Sure, sure. How do you plan on helping me out today?" he asked and watched and she carefully dribbled the ball at her right side. He recalled the advice she had given him the day before and though at first he was a bit upset with being told the facts by some girl he didn't know; it turned out that the advice she gave was actually pretty helpful. Not to mention, it was a lot better hearing her voice and getting her help than the coach's and she seemed to be a little more hand's on than the coach who hated exercise.

"Ah, right! I wanted to show you my drive since my movements should be easier to keep up with than Kise-kun's or Kasamatsu-senpai's," she replied while turning her attention away from him and scanning over the other players in the gym. "Kasamatsu-senpai! Can I borrow you for a second!?" she called out toward the male on the other side of the court; of course, she immediately regretted calling out to him when he froze up and quite literally took a pass to his gut. _'Maybe…I should have called for Kise,'_ she thought to herself as she watched the male try to play it off the hit and jog over to her. "Sorry, sorry, I didn't mean to startle you, but would you mind going on the defensive for me?" she asked while smiling slightly up toward the male only to watch him raise a curious brow toward her as if silently asking what she meant when she said 'for me'. "Oh well, I want to help Nao-kun perfect a fake into a drive and normally I'd tell him to just watch you, but you go through the motions so quick it's hard to something keep up with especially when you're trying to learn. It would also be helpful if we had another player on the defensive too so I could go from the fake into a crossover. I have to admit though your drives aren't something to be scoffed at and -," she paused when she felt a hand gently take hold of her shoulder. She quickly looked back to see Nao smiling a bit at her before mentioning that she was going off topic. "Right, right, sorry, so, Kasamatsu-senpai, if you could just go on defense, but not come at me with everything you have that'd be great," she said happily her smile only increasing when the dark haired male nodded his head in a stiff kind of manner. _'Um…is he going to be okay…?_ ' Rini silently questioned as Nao put a little distance between the two of them.

She watched the captain for a moment as he took on a defensive stance while she dribbled the ball to her right side. She grinned somewhat before making a quick motion forward the smile on her lips increasing slightly when the male took an instinctive step back…or maybe he was just playing along with her. She really hoped it was instinct though since she wanted him to be at least a bit serious with her; after all, she wasn't complete garbage at the game. She quickly raised her arms with the ball pretending to go for a shot and silently thanking the dark haired captain when he went along with her motions and jumped to block her shot. Rini quickly pushed off as fast as she could to the left running passed him and dribbling the ball at her side. She made it to the hoop and jumped as high as she could smiling lightly when the ball actually went in with her height it was always difficult to make shots. "See, Nao-kun!" she spoke up happily as her feet landed on the ground once more and she ran over toward the taller male forgetting about the Basketball.

"Did you used to play Basketball? Your movements were pretty clean," the boy spoke up grinning lightly as Rini grabbed his shirt and pulled him down to her height so she could rub his head. She had learned that the boy was extremely tall with made him perfect for the game; however, he had only started playing in his third year of middle school. She laughed lightly at the feel of his short hairs running against the palm of her hand.

"I did, but I was really bad. This demonstration only looked so great because of Kasamatsu-senpai," she said before her eyes lit up at the mention of the male. She felt like an idiot for forgetting about him for a second. She quickly turned around to go and thank the male while telling Nao she'd be right back. Not that she had to go far though since the man was already approaching the two of them. She stifled her laughter at his sudden stiffness wondering where it had gone when she had been playing with him. He hadn't been stiff at all when he had taken on that defense stance with her. She paused…actually, he had seemed pretty comfortable when the two of them were playing; maybe, she could get to know him through basketball then? Would he be willing to answer more question about himself if they were in the middle of a game together? She'd definitely have to give it a try sometime. "Ah, senpai! You did great! Thanks so much for your help!" she spoke up happily before giving him a thumbs up.

"Thank you!" he replied rather loudly causing Rini to jump lightly in surprise at the sudden sound of his loud voice. He was still stiff and his pink cheeks were quickly heating up at his sudden loss of control on his voice. He frowned lightly wondering why he was always like this around girls; either too loud or too quiet. This was why the girls in his class usually took pity on him and only asked him yes or no questions. Rini quietly laughed to herself as she stood up to her tip-toes and raised a hand to lightly pat the male on his head as she had done to Nao a second ago. She would have pulled her down to her level the same way she had done for Nao too, but she highly doubted she would have been able to pull a man standing as stiff as he was. Kasamatsu stiffened up further under her touch if that was at all possible and the two of them were vaguely aware of a certain blond male laughing at his captains antics in the background.

"No, no, don't thank me when you're the one who helped us out," she said before pulling her hand away from him and turning her attention back toward Nao, but before she could get a word out to him a certain blond player had closed the gap between himself and the group.

"Eh senpai, Rinichii did a pretty great fake there, didn't she? I was really surprised to see how fluid her movements were," Kise said smiling brightly as his captain nodded his head before turning a glare onto their ace player as if willing him to disappear.

"Thank you both, but really it's nothing. Kasamatsu-senpai could have stopped my momentum in a second if he wanted," Rini said laughing a bit nervously as she raised a hand to rub at the back of her head. She questioned the sudden –chii added to the end of her name by Kise, but she chose not to mention it and instead just let him do as he pleased. "Oh yeah, that's right, senpai, are you busy tomorrow night?" she asked as a look of recognition lit up her face at having remembered the dinner her mother had mentioned earlier. He stiffly shook his head no at her question before giving her a somewhat questioning look; however, she didn't get a chance to answer him immediately.

"Are you asking the captain on a date Rinichii? What about me? I wanna date too!" the blond ace said with a bit of fake hurt in his voice. Rini only laughed a bit at his teasing, but her laughter quickly increased in volume as the man doubled over in a bit of pain after having met with Kasamatsu's fist to his gut.

"No, no, not really a date…kind of? My mom wants to have dinner with the captain and the coach. The coach already agreed so I was just wondering if you could make it, senpai?" Rini asked smiling lightly when he nodded his head to her. "Great, that's great! We should exchange numbers after practice then, okay?" she said grinning lightly toward the male who nodded his head in response.

"I want Rinichii's number too," Kise chimed in with something of a pout in his voice to which Rini only laughed a bit at before agreeing to exchange numbers with him too. She really hoped that he wasn't the type of person to constantly bother her with his texts…then again if he was she could always tease Yukari with it as well. It would only be fair after all the teasing Yukari did with her.


	4. Lightweights Shouldn't Drink

**Chapter IV: Lightweights Shouldn't Drink**

"Rini, are you ready to go yet?" the older woman called up to her daughter as she looked up the stairs to where her daughters room resided. It was the only room up there besides the bathroom that was connected to it and it would have normally been considered the guest room, but Rini had decided to take up residence in it the moment she came back to live with her mother.

"I'm coming! Just getting my shoes on!" Rini replied back to her mother yelling as loud as she thought necessary. The older woman quickly responded with how she'd be waiting outside _. 'This is nerve wrecking…'_ Rini thought to herself as she slowly tied the laces on her sneakers. Not only was she going to be seeing the captain that had gained her affections, but she was going to be trying to convince them to allow her to be a manager on the team. She took a small breath in an attempt to calm her nerves as her small hands lightly clenched themselves. She had to make the team as manager. She wouldn't leave that restaurant without them agreeing. She took one more small breath before finally getting up to her feet to join her mother outside.

The trip to the restaurant wasn't that long of a trip and nor was it that fancy of a place, but it was a place that she often frequented with her mom. Well, she had started frequenting it often with her mom since her arrival. The two of them quickly took a seat at a booth near the back. Rini could practically hear her heart thundering away in her chest and her mother's comments at the moment were not helping her at all either.

"I can't wait to see what kind of man my little Rini-chan has a crush on," her mother spoke up before lightly pinching one of her daughters pink cheeks.

"It's not a crush…he's just attractive," Rini muttered under her breath as she attempted to shoo her mother's hand away. She wasn't sure how many times she had corrected her mother now since the day began, but it was seriously beginning to get on her nerves. She swore her mother acted like a grade schooler sometimes and she couldn't help wondering who the older one was between the two of them. The sound of bells chiming over the entrance pulled Rini from her thoughts and upon seeing the two males they were looking for enter she felt her heart drop into her stomach. Oh god, she was more nervous than she had originally thought; however, despite that she forced a smile onto her lips and gently waved at the two males while her mother waved a little more….enthusiastically.

"I'm so glad you two could make it!" Rini's mother spoke up with a wide smile still plastered on her lips as the two men took their seats in front of them. Rini held back her laughter when she saw that her senpai was already stiff and red. _'Uwah! I really wanna mess with him!'_ she thought to herself as the man nodded his head toward the two of them in greeting. Rini slowly looked him over noting the fact that he was dressed rather casual in his basketball shorts and a white shirt… _'was he practicing before he came here?'_ she thought to herself while her eyes slowly shifted over toward the coach whom was currently engaging her mother in conversation; however, from what Rini could tell it didn't seem to be anything pertaining to her joining the team as of yet. The waiter soon came around to take their drink orders, but much to Rini's dislike her mother decided to order herself some alcohol.

"Mom…you know you're a lightweight. You really shouldn't get that," Rini spoke up while eyeing her mom suspiciously, but the older woman simply waved her off with a smile.

"Don't worry Rini. It's not a strong drink anyways. I'm sure I can handle myself besides I can't let the coach drink alone," Rini's mom responded as the server smiled toward the four of them and then left. Rini mentally groaned and silently prayed to whatever god was listening that her mother would indeed be able to handle herself.

It had happened. Her mom was drunk. They hadn't even discussed her becoming the manager yet since her mom kept insisting to leave the serious talk for after she had eaten. Rini gave a frustrated sigh as she looked down at the two glasses in front of her mom. She hadn't even had two drinks and she was already completely happy and drunk. Rini slowly began rubbing at her temples as she ignored her mom's enthusiastic giggling and flirtatious slurs.

"Mom…you're drunk…" Rini said while looking over toward the older woman whom had just slumped over onto the table. The coach beside her was currently panicking and wondering what kind of principal actually allowed herself to get drunk with her students. "I swear, this doesn't normally happen…" Rini stated quietly as she pushed a hand through her darkened locks annoyance was clear on her face.

"Ri-chan, baby, have you asked out that boy with the legs yet?" her mother slurred out before giving a lopsided smile toward her daughter whom only sent her something of a glare. Had she already forgotten who exactly was in their company?! Rini eyed the captain for a moment who was now sitting stiff as a board again and blushing a bright red color having heard the older woman's slurred words. She hoped that that blush was for the fact that her mother had just brought up her daughters love life and not because he had connected the dots from her earlier compliment on his legs the day before.

"I'm calling for a cab," Rini said softly as she retrieved her phone from her pocket ignoring the way her mother was still lightly clinging to her.

"Ri-chan~ don't ignore me. What was his name again…K-," her mother began speaking only to be interrupted by her daughter's much louder voice.

"Oh! I don't have any signal in here! Kasamatsu-senpai, could you escort me outside? I would rather not be out on my own at night," Rini said quickly as she slid out of the booth easily escaping her mother's grasp. She eyed the dark haired male for a moment as if pleading with him to come with her or else she'd risk her mother blurting out her crush on the captain. Scratch that. It wasn't a crush. It was an attraction. A simple attraction based on looks from the fact that her teenage hormones decided they stupidly wanted to react to whatever pheromones the boy gave off.

' _Yeah, that's right Rini, chalk it all off to science…'_ she thought to herself before releasing a breath of relief when she saw the stiff male finally move from his seat. "I'll leave her in your care for a while Coach," Rini replied before giving a sheepish smile toward the male who was currently about as crimson in color at the captain since her mother had decided to cling onto him instead. As much as Rini didn't enjoy the scene in front of her she had to admit that it was better than listening to her mother constantly try and spill the beans on her daughter. Rini quickly turned on her heel before bee-lining it for the exit with Kasamatsu following a few steps behind her.

"Sorry about that. She's such a lightweight and I swear she refuses to listen to me sometimes," Rini muttered under her breath as she looked down toward her phone trying to find a decent cab company to come and pick them up. She hated taking a cab in the middle of Tokyo, but she wasn't about to risk going on a train with her mother right now either.

"I-It's…fine," Kasamatsu replied quietly as he shoved his hands into his pockets and looked anywhere, but at the girl in front of him. He'd been avoiding looking at the girl almost all night since she wasn't exactly dressed in the most conservative clothes and not only that, but he had never seen her out of her school uniform before. There she stood in a pair of short jean shorts and a simple blue tank-top that cut low at her sides. The black sports bra she wore below it was easily seen, but that wasn't even as distracting as the fact that the shirt cut off high and showed off a bit of her mid-drift.

"Hrm…These rates really suck," Rini muttered under her breath as she scrolled upward on her phone barely aware of the fact that Kasamatsu now had his back turned toward her as if trying to forget the girl was even with him. A sudden hand gripping on her shoulder from her other side pulled her attention away from her phone though. She quickly looked up to find, what she assumed was a college student, grinning down toward her.

"Hey babe, waiting for someone? Wanna get a drink with me while you wait?" he asked before frowning somewhat when the dark haired girl snatched her shoulder away. Rini frowned lightly toward him before taking a few steps back until she could feel Kasamatsu's chest pressed gently against her back. The dark haired man having turned around when he heard the voice of the other male speak up. She felt her senpai stiffen somewhat behind her and she could only imagine the color of his face, but she hardly had time to think about that as she lightly pressed her backside against him. She slowly looked back down toward her phone and began scrolling through the list of cab companies once more.

"I have a boyfriend. My dad owns a gun. I'm underage. I'm not interested. I'll let you choose from those answers," she spoke up rather nonchalantly until her eyes caught sight of a company that was decently priced.

"Oh! Babe, I found a good one!" Rini spoke up happily as she used her free hand to point to her cellphone obviously ignoring the male who had offered her a drink. The college male looked between the two of them with something of a pissed off expression, but decided the girls attitude was hardly worth the trouble. He quickly turned to leave and the moment Rini could no longer see the man's retreating figure she removed herself from Kasamatsu's chest. "Thanks for that Senpai! You're a real lifesaver," Rini said happily and watched as the man simply nodded his head toward her with his cheeks still pink and his body standing stiff. She couldn't help thinking about just how cute this man was right now.


End file.
